The Dimence Group, consisting of 7 foundations in 4 provinces, collaborates with 4 different laboratories in the region. There are as many as 325 prescribers who make lab requests, and there are kinds of lab requests nurses can make themselves (e.g., urine checks). However, there were several bottlenecks in working with the labs, that were quite time-consuming.Dimence Group is now using CODE24's Lab24 module. How did the implementation process go and what are their learning points? We'd love to share it with you.
The launch of Lab24 obviously had to be celebrated - with cake!
Bottlenecks and objectives
The old way of working lacked a good representation of outstanding lab requests and results. In addition, the results were sent to Dimence Group on paper, which meant they had to be entered manually. Also, multiple forms were required to submit the requests to the various labs... This all required additional actions and took a considerable amount of time.
As such, the primary goal was to improve and speed up the process around lab requests put out and results received. These subjects were deemed important:
-
Working paperless
-
A timely signal function
-
A unified way of working within Dimence Group
Getting started!
The Dimence Group formed a steering committee (with delegations from the primary process, the support service and CODE24), a working group (with delegations from information management, application management and CODE24) and working groups for the labs. These groups worked together to develop the desired architecture for the laboratory process and set it up.
The Lab24 module was linked to Dimence Group's EHR , USER, and they set up separate outgoing message boxes (for order requests) and incoming message boxes (for lab results) for each lab. HL7 Push and Pull is used for data exchange.
After the initial setup, a team of frontrunners got to work testing the new process for a period of 4 months. Finally, on Oct. 2, 2023, the entire organisation went live with Lab24.
Arjan van Dijk, Information Architect and Care Innovation Project Leader at Dimence Group, is pleased with how the cooperation with CODE24 went during this project: "I am very pleased with CODE24's pragmatic approach during the project. I also want to mention the flexibility and approachability of the CODE24 team. They are open to discuss ideas and brainstorm with us."
Learning points
Looking back, Arjan can name several learning points based on the implementation process. For example, it is important to take the time to properly design, set up and test the process. As a result, the lead time was longer than initially thought.
Another learning point was that the differences in working methods at the different labs complicated the process. This required a solid collaboration with the labs to fine-tune working methods. This also takes time. Lab24 turned out to be eminently suitable to tackle this challenge.
Next steps
Now that the module is live within Dimence Group, it is time to work on several optimisations. For example, one more lab needs to be added to the process and a solution needs to be found for requesting lab tests for people without a social security number (think of, for example, asylum seekers). In addition, Dimence Group and CODE24 are collaborating to realise various feature requests together. This way, Lab24 is keeps improving and the module can support Dimence Group's employees better and better.
Wondering how Lab24 can support your organisation ? We'd love to tell you more!